Never Ever
by o0Black-Sand0o
Summary: Never and ever are 2 simple words sometimes overlooked, but putting them together means something permanent.Never ever is a phrase that shouldn't be said unless you mean it.The question is: does George mean it enough to never ever stop from following thro
1. The Falling

George was sitting in Transfiguration bored out of his mind. He had his head in his hands and had stopped paying attention long ago. Professor McGonagall was rambling on about being able to change your appearance at will by using a simple spell. Yeah, right. _Simple._ Lee had made a jab at him about being able to change his hair colour to something that didn't make him look like he was on fire. George, however, was too bored to listen and reply.

George's head snapped into attention when McGonagall asked a question and four hands shot into the air. Sitting up, he watched as McGonagall picked a Ravenclaw to answer her question: "What was the great importance of the spell?"

"Tactical advantage," the girl said smartly, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. "Aurors especially would find it useful for stealth. To disguise ones appearance would keep them safe if the dark wizard they're hunting gets away."

George stared at the girl, fully awake now. Lee noticed him looking and laughed softly.

"Nerdy Ravenclaw," he told George. "Thinking of a prank?"

"Who is she?" George asked in a whisper. He finally found something in the class to keep him awake. But why hadn't he noticed her before?

"Ravenclaw Prefect. Dawn Hollows." Lee looked at George with curiosity. He was obviously confused by his friend's behavior. "George?"

George ignored him and kept looking at the blonde girl sitting near the front. From his seat in the back row, the boy could see most, if not all of the room, but she was the first thing since entering that had caught his attention.

Dawn must have felt his eyes on her because as she ran her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face, she looked behind her. Her eyes landed on the red-head and not longer after they had did she blush and quickly return her attention back to Professor McGonagall. George saw her tap her friend's arm, making her lean over. The two girls spoke for a moment in hushed voices before the brunette looked over her shoulder at him. She turned back around and started whispering in Dawn's ear. Whatever she said made Dawn shake her head in disagreement.

Dawn looked over at him again and when she saw him still watching, she turned back around and released her hair from behind her ear, creating a curtain to hide her face. That was when George realized he was making her uncomfortable. Blinking, he looked away and dropped his head back into his hands like before. The only difference was that this time, he couldn't help but sneak glances at the mysterious girl every so often and by the end of class, he had his answer as to why he had never noticed her. She was extremely quiet and seemed very shy.

There was no doubt in his mind that George found Hollows appealing. She had turned his boring day, then week, then month of lessons into something bearable, but there was no denying there was something not entirely 'right' about her. She didn't seem to show any truly strong emotions, like joy. He had seen Hermione ecstatic over something as trivial as test results so why wasn't Dawn the same in Transfiguration? She was a Ravenclaw after all, and they loved getting the results of tests. Then again, Dawn wasn't Hermione and only one Weasley could find Hermione and her quirks attractive and that wasn't George. But it wasn't as though Dawn _didn't_ have emotions; it was more like Dawn wasn't confident enough to show them.

George headed out into the courtyard with his brother and friend one day after a Potions lesson. They had a free period and had chosen to take advantage of it and the peaceful weather by hanging out by the lake and messing around. As they drew closer to the lake, they saw a figure sitting under the beach tree. They only had to walk a bit closer to recognize the figure as Dawn Hollows. She was sitting under the tree reading a book. The sight of her like that made George stop in his tracks. She looked so different to what she looked like in class. Her eyes were darting over the page so quickly that they were almost a blur. A small smile on her lips was evident and her face seemed to be glowing with emotion. She truly seemed to be experiencing the emotions in the book. _But what emotion could it be that could make her look like that?_

He had to know. She looked so different. So tranquil.

He and his friends decided to sit at the water's edge, instead of disturbing the girl. From where they sat, George could see the title of the book and Dawn's face clearly.

He decided to look up the book she was reading during lunch. He could have looked it up during the free but he wanted to continue studying this 'new' Dawn. Fred and Lee had tried to pull him into a conversation, but they had eventually given up when they realized that he wasn't going to pay attention. He no longer found Dawn just appealing; he liked her a lot more. George loved all things unique, and she certainly was different to all other girls.

When he finally tracked down the book she had been reading, he found it was a story called _Pride and Prejudice_ and it was a romance novel. He didn't bother to read it but he _did_ skim through it. If it was anything like the romances his little sister and mother read, then he probably knew the story line. Now he understood what made Dawn look so different. Her eyes were shining with the love she was reading about and the love for literature that she held.

George walked down the deserted, slightly dark corridor. He and Fred had no idea what to do for their next prank. They needed inspiration; a reason to pull the prank. They didn't prank just for fun: they sometimes did it to attract the attention of certain people. Fred had been pulling pranks for a week straight, all because he wanted to impress Angelina. It was working, at least. So now George was wondering around the school, by himself, aimlessly.

Sighing, George looked up from the ground. As he did, he saw a door in front of him opening slowly. He knew he was out past curfew and didn't feel like getting into trouble for that. Seeing an empty classroom nearby, George slipped into the room, keeping the door open a fraction so he could see out into the hall.

As he watched, the opposite door opened wider and a blonde girl stepped out. George knew it was the Prefect's bathroom. The girl was in her pajamas, which were: a red tank-top and small red shorts. Her blonde hair was damp and she radiated with the aromas of the scented water she used. When she turned from closing the door, George saw it was the Ravenclaw Prefect in his year, Dawn Hollows; the girl he couldn't get out of his head. She walked down the hall quietly, her bare feet padding along the floor softly. The moment Dawn had disappeared around the corner, Mrs. Norris appeared at the other end. She meowed and walked up to the door Dawn had just closed. Mrs. Norris wasn't aware that Dawn had just reappeared at the corner. She drew her wand and used a non-verbal charm. Suddenly, all Mrs. Norris's fur had disappeared. The furless cat gave a strangled meow as Dawn dashed away, her footsteps not heard because of the fact she had no shoes to echo the sound off of the stone floor.

George was speechless. He knew that Dawn was annoyed at Filch for giving her friend a detention because she had forgotten her allergy potion and therefore sneezed when Mrs. Norris had passed, but for her to seek revenge was shocking.

Mrs. Norris scampered off to find Filch and the boy slipped out of the room, creeping down the hall. He pulled out the Marauders Map, which he had borrowed from Harry earlier that night. He quickly located Dawn making her way to Ravenclaw tower. Taking some well chosen shortcuts, George cut her off.

"Well, that's not something you see every day," George said softly, leaning against the wall and submerging half of himself in shadows.

Dawn looked at his silhouette as she couldn't see his full form, before looking down at her small outfit. She blushed bashfully and did her best to cover her legs by holding her toiletries in front of her.

George chuckled, realising what Dawn thought he was talking about. "No, not that... although, yes, that is a sight! I _actually_ meant that fabulous prank you pulled." George moved out of the shadows so that Dawn could see it was he, the famous prankster that had given her praise. "Bravo."

"I don't know what you're talking about." With that, Dawn walked passed George and went into the Ravenclaw common room.

George wondered if he should have told her that he liked watching her walk away, but then decided that if past examples showed him anything, it was that she was shy.

That girl was certainly different, and he was never going to stop trying to get to know her.

Never ever!


	2. Safe Haven, Not So Safe

She ran her finger along dusty volume after dusty volume. Each and every one was as grand as the last in her eyes. They held knowledge, inspiration… escape. She certainly wanted to escape after the day she had today. Stressful didn't start to describe it. Agonizing, painstakingly slow and embarrassing could be better descriptions. She grabbed a book and moved to one of the free tables slightly more towards the back than others, away from disrupting students.

Opening her book to the first page, she sat back and put her feet up on the chair next to her, turning her back slightly to the chair on her other side. Sighing, she opened the book and, using the sunlight, started to read the slightly faded words written on the yellowing pages.

The moment she started reading, she was lost to the outside world, going on a journey written out by the author. A journey of mystery, discovery, and of course, romance. That was her favourite journey, even if she had never gone on it herself, only through the books she read. She didn't go on those kinds of journeys in real life. She was the girl that was too involved with her studies for boys to pay attention to. But that didn't matter. The library was her safe haven. No one disturbed her in the library. No one! Except…

She tried not to groan as George Weasley pulled out the chair she had her back to. _Not again. Not here of all places._ He was the one that made her want to escape. He had embarrassed her all day. He had made her spend the whole day looking at her watch repeatedly, wishing the day over with.

George leant towards her and rested his arm on her shoulder casually. He was so close that she could feel his hot breath rushing passed her cheek as he breathed in her scent and let out the air in a rush. Repeatedly! It annoyed her to no end. Having him so close to her, sent her senses into high alert. She could sense his every move. From the movement of his stomach muscles as he breathed, to his hand that was playing with the ends of her hair and brushing soot off of her shoulder. i_Why does he have to affect me so? I hate him./i_ And the ends of his hair kept brushing her face softly, tickling her skin delicately.

"Good morning, Miss Hollows, you're looking beautiful as usual. Perhaps even more so, although I didn't think that possible." George picked up one of her dirty blonde locks and twirled it around in his fingers. He brought it to his nose and smelt her shampoo. "You smell nice. New shampoo?"

Dawn rolled her eyes as she tried to concentrate on her reading, which was near impossible now. How he or even anyone could see her as pretty let alone beautiful was beyond her. She was the lesser of her and her cousin and she knew it. She had dirty blonde hair that fell in clumps and never sat the way she wanted. Her eyes were plain brown, not honey brown, not chocolate brown, not anything, just brown. Her complexion was plain and she didn't have any outstanding facial features, her smile wasn't anything special, on the rare times she actually did smile, and she was an average build. She didn't have curves that made the boys turn their heads but she also wasn't as flat as the house tables.

She was plain, average, invisible. She could walk into a room and no one would notice her until she answered a question, and even then it was just noticing her as a nerd. She was a shadow among light. The light was noticed but the shadow was ignored, like it was non-existent. No boy out of her house bothered paying her attention. The only reason boys in her house paid her attention was they valued brains. All Ravenclaws did. They held knowledge over everything else, that's why she didn't date them. They were all to busy studying and didn't want to waste their time on the broom-wreck that was her.

George leaned closer to her, pretending to read over her shoulder perhaps. When he did, the ends of his hair brushed against her face softly, tickling her skin delicately. The touch was lighter the a gentle breeze but it sent pleasant shivers up and down her spin, causing her to gasp softly.

She thought it had gone unnoticed, but the wide smile she saw spread across George's face out of the corner of her eye told her he had felt and or seen her gasp. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment. She didn't like him, she knew that, but his 'Weasley charm' as they called it, did have an effect on her, even if it was miniscule.

"Come on, Hollows, be nice and say 'Good morning, George'," the annoying boy pestered, breathing the words into her ear.

Dawn didn't comment. She just kept looking at the words in front of her. Why did he want to talk to her so badly? Did he have money riding on whether or not she'd give in and accept his advances? He wouldn't leave her alone! Not since he had busted 'The Ravenclaw prefect, Miss Perfect' cursing Mrs. Norris. If she knew that George Weasley, slacker and prankster would spend every class, free, break, study time and meal trying to woo her, she wouldn't have done it. She had just been _so_ annoyed! How dare Filch do that to her friend?

Although, George's wooing was by far _more_ annoying. Today was one of the worst. He had serenaded her in the middle of dinner. With the song from i_Much Ado About Nothing _by William Shakespeare_./i _Everyone had turned and looked as one of the Weasley Twins kneeled on one knee in front of some mystery Ravenclaw and sung his heart out. She had been laughed at. Many girls had also seen it fit to glare at her. It was as though she had bewitched him into doing it. Put him under the Imperius curse perhaps? Yeah, she found him handsome, she was human after all, but she didn't want his attention.

Her friend was actually deluded enough to believe that the only reason he got under her skin was because she liked him. Yeah right! She was a Prefect! She was most likely to become Head Girl next year, top of her class and she had a spotless record. (Well, besides that one incident with Mrs. Norris but, for some reason, George and only George, not Fred, was given detention for it.) Like she'd be attracted to a prankster, a slacker, a Quidditch played that is most likely not to even turn up next year, let alone become Head Boy, and the guy that held the record for most detentions in a year. She was to busy anyway. She had to focus on her studies. She was a Ravenclaw after all.

He still hadn't left. He was just sitting there, with his arm resting on her shoulder and one of her locks twirled around his finger. He was watching the light, streaming through the window, hit her hair. He seemed truly fascinated by her hair, the way the light actually made it look a seamy descent colour, but she knew it was him and his great acting skills. You didn't get away with at least half your pranks without having extraordinary acting skills. But she wasn't going to fall for it!

Never ever!


	3. Fell Before The Prank

George walked down the hall with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. He had woken up like that and as the day weathered on, he didn't see it going away. He had a reason to be happy. Fred thought he must have fallen on his head, that could be the only reason for his behaviour, right? Wrong, Fred! He may have fallen, but not on his head. No. He'd fallen in love.

Hollows may think that he persuaded her just because she pulled a prank, or because he had money on it, but no, he fell before the prank. The prank just set it in stone. And god it was a good one, hexing Mrs. Norris so she was bald. No, it had been long before that.

He had first noticed her in class, answering practically all of the questions. He had thought of her as just another Ravenclaw nerd, but he was wrong. She wasn't just some Ravenclaw, she wasn't even just some girl, or just some face. She was different. It had been when he saw her in the Court Yard, reading, that made him start falling for her. The way her eyes shone when she read the words; they were so filled with emotion that it was indescribable. He later tracked down the book she had been reading to find it was a romance novel. Since then, his goal in life was to make her eyes shine the way those words had.

He walked into the library. He knew she was there, she always was. It was her safe haven. He had talked to her at breakfast, lunch, dinner, Denfense Against the Dark Arts,Transfiguration, Potions; all the classes they had together, plus free periods, breaks and study times, but he loved seeing her in the library. It was her niche.

Madam Prince looked at him suspiciously as he looked around for Dawn. When he had first come into the library, she never stopped breathing down his neck, expecting a prank. He had never gone into the library before, after all. But when she saw him watching Hollows, she realised he liked her and backed off, although she still kept an eye on him.

He looked around and there she was, sitting with her feet up and a small smile on her face. Her eyes were shining like he wished they'd do for him. How no other boy noticed her was beyond George's comprehension. She was light among shadows. A ray of beauty, hope and safety. George noticed this whenever she walked into a room. His body seemed to hone in on her energy. He could sense her presence.

He walked over to her, turning on the Weasley charm. He saw many girls look at him with fond eyes but he only had one target. The only girl immune to the charm. It was known throughout Hogwarts that the Weasley boys had a certain effect on girls… well... every Weasley boy except Ron and Percy. The charm seemed to have skipped them.

He sat down behind her and put his arm on her shoulder, feeling an electric thrill shoot through his arm, making its way around his body. He heard a soft noise come from Hollows' voice and he smiled; she was trying to hold back a groan. "Good morning, Miss Hollows, you're looking beautiful as usual. Perhaps even more so, although I didn't think that possible," he confessed, picking up one of her soft locks and twirling it around his finger. He smelt something sweet around him. Curious, George brought the lock of hair to his nose and inhaled. Daffodils. They were secretly George's favourite flower and she smelt like them. "You smell nice. New shampoo?"

She tried to ignore him but he could see that she wasn't absorbed in the words from her book as she usually was. He was getting into her head and he wasn't planning on leaving; just like she wouldn't seem to leave his heart.

His long hair brushed her cheek softly and at that moment George wished his hair was able to sense touch. He really wanted to know what the skin covering her cheek felt like. Well, he would prefer to know what the feel of her lips was like, but he would settle of her cheek.

As he fought the urge to kiss her, he saw her draw breath sharply and felt her shoulders rise quickly. She had gasped at the sensation of his hair tickling her face. He couldn't help but smile at this and watch a light, cute, rosy tinge appear on her cheeks.

"Come on, Hollows, be nice and say 'Good morning, George," he pestered. She had never said his first name. She always said Mr. Weasley or Weasley when telling him to politely piss off, and it was always said stiffly. He would die a happy man if she just said his name the same way one of the girls in her books said their loves name; breathless and full of emotion.

He wondered if she knew that she could tell him to do anything and he'd do it. Probably not. Well, she couldn't get him to do _anything_ seeing as she couldn't get him to go away. But if she wanted flowers, he'd get them. If she wanted him to fall off his broom in a Quidditch match, he would, and shockingly, if she wanted him to stop pranking, he would. He was even planning on coming back for his final year, just for her.

That's why he had said he had hexed Mrs. Norris. She valued her spotless record; it was important to her and he was all too happy to take a weeks worth of detentions for her. It would have been a years worth if he hadn't told Professor Dumbledore of what Filch had done to Hollows' friend.

_Perhaps I should tell her I took the detention,_ thought George. He quickly decided not to. She would think he did it to win her over, but truthfully, he didn't want her to suffer. Why couldn't he make her see that?

Sighing softly, he looked at her blonde hair in his fingers as the light streaming through the window hit it. It mesmerized him. Her over-all hair colour was dirty blonde and in the dank dungeons and darker classrooms it stayed that colour, but in the sunlit library new colours came out. There was honey-blonde, bleach-blonde, soft-blonde and, to his delight, strawberry/copper-blonde streaks running through her hair. All natural. It looked as beautiful as she did.

He had fallen hard. He would never give up until she fell like he'd fallen.

Never ever!


	4. This Pain

George sighed as he spotted her. She was sitting under a tree by the lake, and she was reading. She sat below the same tree he had first seen her reading under. The light hit her blonde hair and made it shine like a beacon, the many blonde layers made visible by it. Her face was soft and her eyes alight; she looked somewhat approachable without her shield up. He knew, though, that she would put it up when someone drew nearer. She did it to everyone to stop herself from getting hurt. Merlin! He wished he could get through that shield, even if only once.

Taking a breath, George strolled forward to do what he had done dozens of times over the last two weeks. Just because he had done it numerous times didn't mean he didn't have to prepare himself and get his brain in gear. His brother could do it so easily, but then again, he and Angelina clearly liked each other, so he knew he was going to get a 'yes.'

"Hey, Dawn, what'cha reading?" George asked when he drew level with the girl. His charming smile was in place and his eyes shone with the mischievous energy that the Weasley twins were known for. He ignored the sighing girls by the lake as a breeze caught his hair. Girls always liked the bad boys, and that was what he was to them, the bad boy, but to Dawn, he wasn't... Granted, to her, he was a nuisance but she still saw him as more then the prankster. Well, he was pretty sure she did.

The shield went up and the girl stiffly moved the book so he could see the cover. She didn't even look up at his smile. It was named '_Music of the Night'_, another romance. He should have guessed, but then again, he had been hoping Dawn would speak to tell him.

He had to admit, he loved her voice. It was soft, as though she thought that if she spoke quietly, no one would hear her say something stupid. The answers she gave in class when she wasn't one hundred percent sure were always whispered. When she did this in Potions, Snape would always say, "I heard a mouse say the answer." That meant he knew Dawn had said it and that she should speak louder because it was correct. George had no idea why she was so fearful about getting something wrong; it wasn't like the other Ravenclaws would shun her, but besides the softness, it also had a demanding tone to it, like when she was on Prefect duty. She could make students of all ages tremble with the authority that was in her voice, and then there was the way she spoke when happy or calm, like when she talked to her friend. It was light and energetic, lively and free, as though there was nothing she had to worry about getting right or being reprimanded for.

"Any good?" George questioned, trying to drag sound from the mute girl.

"Why do you care? You'll never read it," she replied curtly.

_Ahh, her clipping tone today. _"You'd be surprised, I actually can read and if you recommend it then I would," George informed her. He sat down beside her and rested his elbows on his knees casually. Surprisingly, he noticed that Dawn didn't edge away from him, but just sat there, her eyes trained on the book. This was an improvement seeing as she normally moved away like he had an illness she didn't wish to catch. The only other time she hadn't edged away, was when he had been in the library with her but he had a suspicion she was just to comfortable sitting there, immersed in the book to let his presence bother her.

Dawn stayed silent for a few moments and George could tell she was mulling over what he said. That was the thing about Ravenclaws, they thought everything through before opening their mouths. That way, they knew most of the implications and the possible misunderstandings, whereas Gryffindors just spoke and dealt with the ramifications later - if there was a later for them. Dawn opened her mouth and spoke in the same tight voice. "I'll lend it to you once I'm done. Just don't bend the spine or dog ear the pages or do anything to it that will disgrace the book. We are going off my standards of disgrace, not yours."

A smile spread across George's lips. She had let him in, if only a little. To offer him one of her books was to offer him a piece of her. She cared for her books dearly; that's why she wished him to treat it well. "Of course. I'll look after it and it will be to your standards. I won't even let Fred near it. Plus, I won't dog ear it. I'm a weasel remember," George joked, running his fingers through his hair as he rambled.

Dawn turned her head slightly as though she was going to look at him, but then she turned back to her book, not even shooting him a glance. "You should be pleased about that."

"Excuse me?"

"Weasels do not stop fighting, and they are skilled in taking on snakes. In some history books, it's believed that the weasel is the only other creature besides roosters that can survive a Basilisk encounter. It has never been proven though, but weasels can sustain venomous bites by regular snakes so I guess that's where it comes from. That's what I've heard anyway." Dawn didn't look at him the whole time she spoke; it was as though she feared to know what he was thinking.

"Wow," George breathed, looking at her, impressed. "That explains why my whole family is in Gryffindor. We verse snakes all the time; they're called Slytherins." It may have just been the light, but George could have sworn he had seen Dawn trying to hold back a small smile. "So anyway, joking aside, I promise to look after your book."

"Good." She still hadn't looked up at him; she had only been looking at her book. She read for a bit longer, with George watching her, before she finally looked up. Her eyes were void of emotion and her face was blank. "Can you not look over my shoulder, it is very distracting?"

"I wasn't. I was looking at you," George confessed, slightly started at her suddenly looking at him. He knew he probably resembled a unicorn caught in wand light. "You look so beautiful when you're reading… and talking… and… actually... doing anything! But reading the most. It's like you see the words as more then ink written down on paper... and I guess to you, it is more. It would have to be for you to read so much... and they're always romances. I find that interesting. Anyway, seeing as you obviously want me to go so you can read without disruption, I'll get to the reason I'm even here, besides the fact that I love watching you read." He took a deep breath and asked the question he had asked many times before. "Will you go to the Yule ball with me?"

"No."

The sharpness of her tongue was like razor blades running deep into his chest, drawing his blood to the surface. She had rejected him countless times - for both dates to Hogsmeade and to the ball - but the pain was always the same. Excruciating, agonizing, unrelenting pain. He tried to smile uncaringly and brush it off as Dawn blushed and turned away, curtaining her hair to obscure her face. He really thought he had been making progress. She had offered to lend him one of her books. She loved her books, and he really loved her! He was never going to get over this pain.

Never ever!


	5. Brain Required

"You do know that George is only asking you out because he wants me, right?"

Dawn groaned. Why-oh-why did her cousin have to be in her dormitory? Dawn was currently lying on her bed talking to her friend Ethel. Her cousin, Natalie, was friends with one of the Ravenclaws in Dawn's year, and since Natalie wanted help getting ready for a date, she was in the Ravenclaw dormitory as Dawn told Ethel about George asking her out - yet again. She didn't know why Natalie chose the Ravenclaw dormitory, seeing as her clothes were in the Hufflepuff dorm.

The moment Natalie had seen George flirting with Dawn, which, unfortunately, the whole school could see, she had felt it was her 'obligation' as a i_great/i_ cousin to tell Dawn that George had asked her out before he had started pursuing Dawn. She also told her how she had rejected him, leaving him heartbroken. Natalie's theory was that George was after Dawn because she was an ugly version of her and because he couldn't have Natalie, he'd gone for relatively second best. i_Her words not Dawn's!__/_i It wasn't like Dawn didn't already have an inferiority complex in regards to her cousin, what with her constantly reminding Dawn how she was in Natalie's shadow. The only thing Dawn had over Natalie were her grades, but Natalie just kept retorting how she was beautiful enough to marry into a rich, respectable family.

"I'm only telling you because I'm a nice cousin," Natalie reassured her as she checked herself in the full-length mirror. Natalie had curly blonde hair, caramel brown eyes, a fair complexion and full, red lips. She was the pretty version of Dawn; she just didn't have the brains. She may have been a Hufflepuff, but the only loyalty she had was to being a bitch and putting Dawns self-esteem at an all time low, which she had done since they were little with the help of their aunts. Always hearing things like, "Your cousin is so much prettier then you" and "Your cousin is so much more social then you, get your head out of the book" would do that to anyone if said by people that i_su__pposedly_/i love them.

"Why don't you just piss off back to your dormitory, Clark?" Ethel spat at Dawn's cousin. She had noticed the effect Natalie had her cousin. She had been Dawn's best and only friend for six years, after all. They were the same age but Natalie had power over Dawn. She made her think bad things about herself; made her think she wasn't any good. Ethel looked at her friend and noticed how her eyes were misted over with tears.

As much as Dawn said she didn't like George, Ethel knew he had helped Dawn gain confidence and that Dawn idid/i find him to be very charming. It wasn't often that George Weasley pursued someone and a Ravenclaw at that so to be the receiver of his attention made any girl feel good about themselves. Although, Dawn did hate the gossip vine of Hogwarts that followed the attention! Some girls had seen George leaning against a wall in a random corridor, chatting up a shy Ravenclaw, who, even with him running his fingers through his infamous ginger hair, rejected him. There was also the fact that most of the Weasley boys could make almost all of the girls at Hogwarts melt with their alluring smile; for one to want a girl so badly that they would withstand multiple rejections meant they really wanted the girl. Dawn however had found a simple way to avoid George making her 'melt' with his smile – she just didn't look at him!

"What? I didn't do anything!" Natalie looked shocked as she turned to the two girls sitting on the royal blue bedspread.

Ethel looked at her scathingly. Both she and Dawn knew why Natalie was getting ready in the Ravenclaw dormitory instead of the Hufflepuff dormitory. It was so Natalie could make Dawn feel inferior. Natalie looked stunning in her flowery sundress that showed off her perfect figure. Her make-up and hair were also done spectacularly, reaching a level of perfection that Dawn could never reach.

"Bull! Now leave, this is the Ravenclaw dormitory. Brains are a requirement." Ethel smirked at a rather angry Natalie as she and her friend left to go to the Hufflepuff dormitories.

"Thanks," Dawn muttered. Her chin was resting on her folded arms and she looked truly sad.

"Dawn, don't listen to her!" Ethel instructed, lying down next to Dawn. "Now tell me why you're so sad. I know it's not just because of Clark, you look depressed, so spill!"

"He looked really hurt," Dawn mumbled, not meeting her friend's eye. "Every time I reject him he looks like someone just knocked him in the stomach with a bludger… kind of like when Fred hit a bludger at him in their first ever game and got George on the head by accident. You know that sickly look he had right before he passed out?"

Ethel snorted at the memory. She and Dawn hated seeing people in pain and the look on George's face that day had been pure agony, which caused the image to be implanted in their brains forever. Four years down the line, Ethel found it funny, but Dawn didn't. "Yeah, I remember. So it was like that was it? That's pretty bad."

"No," Dawn shook her head, "It was worse. I thought he might cry at first. He just sat there staring at me like I had just shot him and he was slowly bleeding to death, all the while in shock."

"Shot?"

"You learnt about Muggle weaponry in Muggle studies. A gun, remember?"

"Right, right. Fourteen calibre?"

Dawn rolled her eyes at her friend's unnecessary question. "Ethel, it doesn't matter what type of gun."

"Right, sorry, go on then. What did he do?" Ethel questioned, having the decency to look apologetic about her interruption.

"He just stared for ages and then he got up with i_none_/i of his usual confidence and apologized for wasting my time and then he walked off to the castle looking really defeated. I wish he wasn't such a good actor, he makes me believe him then feel guilty for hurting him."

"Do you really believe that? Do you really believe he asked Natalie out? She can't even tell the twins apart. How do we know it was George?" Ethel asked Dawn, trying to boost her friend's confidence and make her see what Ethel saw when George was around the blonde girl. When Dawn was around George, it was as though he didn't pay attention to anything else, didn't want to. At one point, Fred had become frustrated at his brother's lack of attention to the planning of their next prank so he stomped on his foot. That got his attention.

"Because it fits! Why else would he be interested in me? I'm the Bookworm and he's the Prankster. We have nothing in common." Dawn turned her head away from Ethel and looked at the far wall, not wanting her friend to see the pain on her face.

"But he asked for your book," Ethel reminded her. "He wanted to read it. I bet he would never have read a book to get closer to Natalie. I don't think he'd even read one if Fred dared him! He'd take a photo of Filch naked in a broom cupboard with Madam Prince if Fred i_asked/i_ but George wouldn't read a book for Fred. I think you should let him borrow it."

Dawn shifted her arms under her head as she thought about the book. Her stomach turned as she thought about where it was at that moment and who had it in their possession. She had given it to a first year Gryffindor just outside the portrait of a Fat Lady in a pink dress. She had been able to watch the kid silently place it in front of George, who was writing. Seeing as there was a rather large stream of younger students walking out of the Common Room, Dawn could see over their heads into the circular room. It had taken him a moment to notice it sitting there as the student that had dropped it off had already scurried away, probably fearing a prank from the infamous rule breaker. When he did notice it, he picked it up and looked at the piece of paper Dawn used as a bookmark. He smiled as he read, i'_P__roperty of Dawn Hollows_'/i. He had immediately abandoned his work and started reading the novel. That was when the portrait was finally able to close.

"I already have," Dawn confessed before thinking, i_but I'm never going to believe he likes me!/i_

Never ever!


	6. Never Ever

_God, h__e's__ pissing me__ off__!_ George thought as he watched Fred smothering Angelina in kisses. It wasn't that George wanted Angelina... it was that George was at the Yule Ball… alone. _How pathetic__ was that__?_ He could have asked some girl besides Dawn to the Ball, but she was the only one he wanted. Fred found it funny; the only girl that was immune to the Weasley charm was the one girl George wanted above all others.

"Honestly, George, why do you have that with you?" Fred asked, nodding to the book in George's hands.

"'Cause I'm planning to give it back to Dawn. I have to face it - she doesn't like me." George sighed with defeat, dropping his head sorrowfully. The very thought made him want to be sick.

"Dawn? Dawn Hollows? As in Natalie Clark's cousin?" Angelina exclaimed, trying to stop Fred from kissing her so she could talk to George. Giggling, she playfully hit Fred's arm. "Stop it, Fred."

"I don't know. Isn't Natalie Clark that blonde girl you asked out a few weeks before I admitted I liked Dawn?" George questioned his twin, frowning in thought.

"Yeah, I think she is," Fred answered, screwing up his face in concentration. "Easiest three galleons I've ever made. I should let Lee dare me more often."

"Honestly, Fred, Natalie's a cow! I can't believe you actually asked her out. She's so mean to Dawn. Natalie really is… nasty piece of work – there are no other words for her. She is always putting Dawn down. Is Dawn like that? Nasty, I mean?"

George just looked at Angelina before shaking his head. He didn't get a chance to reply because Fred started to backhand his arm as he looked over George's shoulder in shock.

"Found Hollows," he informed George almost robotically, not taking his eyes off something in the distance.

George looked over his shoulder and gasped. There was Dawn in a floor length, Ravenclaw blue, halter-neck. The back of it was cut low, and had a floral pattern on the bottom. Her hair was in loose ringlets and her brown eyes were framed with black eyeliner and blue eye shadow. She was on the dance floor, dancing to the beat with her friend Ethel. The ice theme to the ball suited Dawn well. The hall was mesmerizing and all similar shades of white, pale blue or silver. Her slightly pale skin tone and silk blue dress fitted the décor perfectly. If it was just her in the room and no one else, it would look as though the room was made for her and the look she adorned.

_This is going to be fun!_ George thought sarcastically as he turned to face Dawn and walked over to her. He wondered if he would be able to stop himself from stuttering or showing how much he wished to be her date. He _was_ happy to see she hadn't came with a date, but with her friend who had also chosen to remain dateless.

"Can I talk to you?" George yelled over the music.

Dawn stopped dancing and looked at George with a startled expression before nodding and walking into the Entrance Hall with the red-head.

When they reached the Entrance Hall, they found that no one was in it. They walked over to the side wall where they could be out of view of those in the Great Hall, but still have the music disguising the silence. Dawn stood with her back to the wall as though she thought someone would come up behind her and do something to embarrass her and George stood in front of her, trying not to look at her out of fear of losing his train of thought.

George stood awkwardly in front of Dawn, only just noticing how low-cut the front of her dress was. It annoyed the hell out of him. What perverted boy had been looking at her before he had pulled her away? If he found any when they went back in, they would be the victim of his next prank, that was, if he ended up going back in at all. "Umm... I just wan…wanted to return your book." George held up '_Music_ _of the Night'_.

"Oh, thank you," Dawn said, taking the book out of George's hand and looking down at it as though she was trying to stop herself from doing something.

"All right then, I guess I'll just go back in." George pointed at the double doors over his shoulder before turning and walking off.

"I'm not her!"

Dawn's voice drifted over to George, making him stop. Her voice held emotions he had never heard before. Pain, anger and… was it heartache? He turned back around to find her looking at him. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not Natalie." Dawn looked down sadly at her book, tears visibly swirling in her eyes. "You're wasting your time."

"I didn't even know she was your cousin." George walked over to stand in front of Dawn. Disbelief at what he was hearing was written on his face. How could he think he wanted Natalie, he had been asking her out relentlessly. Didn't that show which of the cousins had his heart?

"You asked her out before you asked me and she rejected you."

"_Fred_ asked her out and it was a dare worth three galleons. All I know about her is that she's a cow!" George was getting frustrated with Dawn's accusations.

Dawn's head shot up to look at George. "Then… then why did you ask m…me out?"

"BECAUSE I BLOODY LOVE YOU, DAMN IT!" George roared, causing people who were exiting the Great Hall to look over.

Dawn looked at him in shock. "Wha…what? You… actually like ME... or_ love_ me?" When George nodded Dawn just stared at him for a moment before stepping forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, dropping her book and kissing him. After she drew back, her lips hovering over his, she explained breathlessly, "Natalie was the one that sent me a bird letter as you asked me out the first time. She said you wanted to go out with me because you liked her and I was as close as you were going to get; that's why I said no. I wanted to say yes, how could I not? There's no one immune to the Weasley charm. But I… I believed her! George, I'm sorry, I should have just said yes but I was scared."

George was still slightly dazed from having Dawn kiss him. He hadn't expected her to. Not even in his wildest dreams had he dared think that she'd suddenly throw her arms around him and kiss him with as much passion as he had for her. George looked disbelieving for a moment, letting the confession she had given sink in before smiling. She had let her shield down for him; she had let him into her life and she had spoken his name in a breathless, loving voice like he imagined the females in her romantic books spoke to their lovers. _If I was to die right now, I'd die a happy man… no, wait! No I wouldn't! I only just got the girl of my dreams, I'm not about to do something stupid like dying._ "For a Ravenclaw, you're an idiot!" With that said, he kissed her again, ignoring the whistling coming from Fred who was watching them with Angelina. Both of the observers had large smiles on their faces. He was never going to get over the feeling of her lips against his.

Never ever!


End file.
